Henk – A specialized GenAI for Agriculture

Using Agentforce, a Salesforce tool for creating self-learning AIs, Care4Growing and Inetum have developed Henk, an AI dedicated to farmers.

ChatGPT may have the answer to everything, but its answers are not always reliable, particularly in technical fields and on specialized questions. It was this insight that prompted Care4Growing, a Belgian organization specializing in the digitization of the agricultural sector, to team up with Inetum to build Henk, a generative AI that only discusses agriculture.

“Today, farmers already manage their fields digitally. Computer programs determine, for example, which types of crops should be planted where and when,” explained Eli Van Nieuwenhoven, Business Unit Leader Salesforce at Inetum in Belgium, “but when a problem arises during the growth of these crops, it’s often difficult for farmers to quickly find the right solution.”

Navigating specialized platforms for specific information can be sometimes challenging. You have to navigate between different articles, compare the solutions proposed, while making sure that the information is relevant to your specific situation. A luxury that few farmers can afford at the height of the growing season.

The Cauliflower ChatGPT

That’s where Henk comes in, developed by Inetum using Agentforce, Salesforce’s latest innovation in artificial intelligence. Like traditional chatbots, Henk is able to understand questions in natural language. But what makes it special is that it responds based on thousands of specifically qualified data items, to provide the best solution for the user –  just as an agronomist would.

Let’s take a concrete example: a farmer notices a problem with his cauliflowers. Instead of going through dozens of pages of documentation, he can simply explain his problem to Henk. The assistant asks him a few technical questions, then quickly identifies that it’s a cabbage fly infestation.

Once the problem has been identified and validated by the farmer, he immediately proposes a series of practical solutions: covering the plants and applying the appropriate treatments, while taking into account the specific weather conditions.

When Farmers’ Queries Benefit Other Farmers

But Henk is more than just a virtual assistant. It is part of a collaborative approach. Each interaction enriches a database shared between farmers and researchers. “The data collected (with the agreement of the growers) can be used to enrich new studies and obtain more solid results.” says Van Nieuwenhoven. A virtuous circle is thus set in motion: researchers refine their understanding of the issues in the field, enabling Henk to offer ever more cutting-edge expertise.

This approach is part of the broader Agentforce strategy, launched by Salesforce at the end of 2024. Distinct from other artificial intelligence systems, Agentforce facilitates the development of specialized language models by connecting them with CRM data and existing knowledge, thereby enabling them to execute specific actions autonomously with reduced incidence of hallucinations.

Currently in the test phase, Henk is due to be deployed to Belgian farmers by the end of April. Eventually, the 3,000 farmers already using the Care4Growing platform will also be able to access it. The next step? Automating data entry for crop treatments, enabling farmers to concentrate even more on their core business: producing quality fruit and vegetables.